Rotary press



oct- 5, 1965 l. J. Boo-rs 3,209,791

ROTARY PRESS Filed March l0, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /NVBNTOR N IRA .I oor fforney Oct. 5, 1965 1. J. BOOTS 3,209,791

ROTARY PRESS Filed March 1o, 1960 g sheets-sheet 2 6 (ga f Ogga 6g mm1/'rap IRA J Boom @Harney United States Patent O 3,209,791 ROTARY PRESS Ira J. Boots, 3923 Church Road, Evansville, Ind. Filed Mar. 10, 1960, Ser. No. 14,072 3 Claims. (Cl. 140--71) The present invention relates to a rotary press, and more particularly to a new and improved rotary press for making missiles for military purposes.

As is known, the military ammunition component known as a flechette is a wire segment which has nlike portions at one end thereof, and its other end pointed like a nail. Prior machinery for forming the aforesaid flechettes has been unsatisfactory in that critical adjustments were required and breakdowns were prevalent. In View of the difliculties inherent with such prior apparatus, the applicant has invented a new and novel rotary press on which flechettes or the like are readily formed at a rate of production faster than has been heretofore possible.

In accordance with the instant invention, the applicant has provided a new and novel rotary press forming a part of an operational sequence which includes the axial feeding of wire from a spool or like source through a conventional wire straightener to a novel rotatable plate having forming members positioned thereon which are slidably responsive to cams peripherally disposed on the stationary frame of the machine. Upon radial sliding movement of the forming members towards the wire, and upon engagement therewith, ns are formed on a portion of the wire segment.

Slidable cutting members disposed on the rotatable plate are also responsive to cams peripherally positioned on the stationary machine frame, whereby the wire is cut into preselected lengths subsequent to the forming of the fins thereon to achieve a iiechette having a pointed front end and a finned rear end.

The applicants instant invention affords a rapid production of liechettes, the rate thereof being mainly dependent upon the number of forming members disposed in the machine and the r.p.m. of the rotatable plate. In connection with the forming and cutting members, the applicant has also provided structure which permits the ready interchange thereof when replacement becomes necessary because of wear, for example.

Accordingly, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a new and novel rotary press for forming wire and cutting the formed wire into segments.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved rotary press which employs a plurality of novel forming and cutting members which are cam controlled for positive action.

A further and more general object of the present invention is to provide a new and novel rotary press from which military components in the form of tlechettes are effectively and rapidly manufactured.

Other objects and a better understanding of the invention will become more apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. l is a View in end elevation, partly fragmentary, showing a rotary press in accordance with the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation, partly fragmentary and partly in vertical section, the vertical section being taken at line 22 of FIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows, showing certain operational components and details of the instant invention;

FIG. 3 is a view in vertical section, taken at line 3--3 of FIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows,

3,209,791 Patented Oct. 5, 1965 showing one of the novel cutting members employed in the applicants rotary press;

FIG. 3A is a view in vertical section, taken at line 3A-3A of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows, showing further details of the cutting member of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is a view in vertical section, taken at line 4--4 of FIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows showing still further details of the cutting member of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view in vertical section, taken at line 5--5 of FIG. 6 and looking in the direction of the arrows, showing details of the forming member of the instant invention; and,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the forming member of FIG. 5 showing further details thereof.

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now to the figures, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the applicants novel rotary press 10 comprises a base assembly 11 in the from of a platform 11a supported by legs 11b. In the preferred form of the invention, the legs 11b towards the front of the rotary press 11, i.e. towards the right of FIG. 2, will be shorter than those towards the rear, so that the rotary press 10 will tilt from a horizontal plane.

A stationary frame 12 having a collar 12a at the rear thereof is mounted on the platform 11a of the base assembly 11. Rotatably disposed within the collar 12a is a power shaft 14 which has a plate 16 secured to an end thereof, a gear 17 being disposed proximate its other end. The gear 17 is in operative relation with a worm gear 19, the latter rotating through a pulley and belt arrangement 20 driven by a power source 21, also mounted on platform 11a, in the conventional manner..

Wire 30 being processed is fed from a common spool (not shown) through a wire straightener 31 by a drive or feed mechanism 32. Although not a part of the invention, it should be understood that the feed mechanism 32 operates intermittently rather than continuously to attain the high speed production afforded by the instant invention. The wire 30 feeds into a tube 34 disposed in the power shaft 14 and then through an axial opening 16b in the plate 16. After the forming and cutting operations, the structures for which are to be discussed in detail herebelow, the nished wire product readily falls into any suitable receiving bin (not shown) by reason of the forward tilt of the machine.

The stationary frame 12 of the rotary press 10 has a circular recess 12b formed therein adapted to receive the plate 16, and around the interior periphery thereof, at equally spaced-apart intervals, are cams 35 and 36 which, as should be apparent from FIG. 2, are typically in engagement. Cams 35, the back cams, which are out of vision when looking towards the end of the press of FIG. 1 are generally in the shape of rectangular bars, with cam action from each being provided by virtue of the straight side surface which breaks the continuous radius provided by the circular recess 12b. On the other hand, the cams 36, the front cams, each have a particular cammed surface, in side elevation, which should be.` evident from FIG. l.

The rotatable plate 16 has a series of radial channels 16a therein, each of which is adapted to receive a bifurcated end 40a of a forming member 40 (see FIGS. 2 and 5). Shoulders 4011 extend outwardly along portions Of the sides of each forming member 40, whereby the latter are retained in operative slidable position by virtue of overlying quadrants 50 (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

A wheel 40e is rotatably disposed in the bifurcated end 40a of each of the forming members 40 and, when the plate 16 is rotated, is urged into engagement with the inside surface of the circular recess 12b of the stationary frame 12, as well as into intermittent contact with the straight side surfaces of the cams 35. The latter urging action is effected through springs 41 which bear against a bar 42, also disposed in each of the radial channels 16a, engaging a portion of the bifurcated end 40a of each of the forming members 40 (see FIG. 2).

A longitudinal channel 40d is disposed in the forming members 40, which channel 40d is adapted to receive a forming tool 44 secured therein by means of bolts 45. When it is desired to replace a forming tool 44, the bolts 45 may be readily removed, and a new forming tool 44 substituted therefor without the necessity of further disassembly of the machine. A bolt and block arrangement 46 is provided to radially adjust the position of the forming tool 44 when the bolts 45 are released.

In operation, and with reference to the typical embodiment of the gures, the plate 16 has four forming members 40 movable thereon in guideways defined by the quadrants 50 and urged outwardly by springs 41 so that upon rotation of the plate 16 by energization of the power source 21, the forming members 40 each simultaneously contact one of the cams 35 and, upon such contact, move radially inwardly towards the center of the plate 16. Inasmuch as wire 30 is feeding through the axial opening 1617 in the rotatable plate 16, a forming operation is effected thereon when the forming members 40 come into Contact therewith. Thus, at this stage of operation, and with the particular structure discussed hereabove, the wire has an upset portion in the form of radially extending Referring now to FIGS. l, 3, 3A and 4, the quadrants 50 are secured to the plate 16 by bolt means 55 and two of the quadrants 50 have radial channels 50a therein adapted to receive a bifurcated end 60a of a cutting member 60, in a manner similar to that discussed above in regard to the forming members 40 and the plate 16. The bifurcated end 60a of each of the cutting members 60 has a wheel 60b disposed therein, which wheel 6011 is normally urged outwardly into engaging relationship with the inner periphery of the circular recess 12a and with the cams 36 by springs 61 bearing against a bar 62. A cutting tool 64 is secured by a bolt 64b to one end of each of the forming members 60. A bolt and block arrangement 66 is provided to radially adjust the position of the cutting tool 64 when the bolt 64b is released. As should be evident from FIGS. 1 and 3A, channel members 68 bolted onto the quadrants 50 at 68a define guideways through which the cutting members 60 radially slide in response to the engagement of the wheel 60h thereof with the cams 36.

In use, when the power source 21 is energized and the plate 16 rotates, the cutting members 60 also rotate and intermittently contact the cams 36 whereby a radial inward movement results. Inasmuch as the cutting members 60 are oppositely disposed, the inward radial movement thereof effects movement towards each other, and towards the wire 30 therebetween, and the latter is then effectively cut by the cutting tool 64 to a nail-like point.

Considering the operation of the instant novel rotary press as a whole, each time the forming members 40 engage the cams 35, effecting forming action through the inward radial movement thereof onto the wire 30, cutting yaction is effected immediately subsequent thereto in view of the characteristic shape of the cams 36 in elevation. Thus, the 1in-like rear portion of the wire segment is formed, followed by the cutting operation which defines the front of the next wire segment, and so on.

From the preceding, it should be apparent that the applicant has provided a new and novel rotary press capable of rapid and effective forming and cutting operations on a moving wire. The production from the machine is dependent upon the number of cams employed and, of course, the speed of rotation of the plate 16. In any event, the press provides positive forming and cutting action due to the slidable movement of the forming and cutting members in response to the engagement of the latter with the cams.

It should be understood that the applicants novel rotary press is susceptible to changes within the spirit of the invention. For example, the cams 35 and 36 may have shapes other than that disclosed herein, and, of course, as indicated above, the number thereof may be varied, as desired, in accordance with the desired use of the machine. Thus, the above description should be considered illustrative and not as limiting the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A rotary press comprising a stationary frame having a circular recessed portion therein, first and second cam means peripherally disposed in said recessed portion in different planes, a plate rotatable within said recessed portion, a pair of deforming members oppositely positioned on said plate, a pair of cutting members oppositely positioned on said plate, and a wire feeding through said plate, said deforming and said cutting members intermittently engaging said first and said second cam means, respectively, and responsively and simultaneously slidable towards each other and said wire to selectively deform the cross section thereof and to cut same into preselected segments.

2. The structure of claim 1 where spring means urge said deforming and said cutting members away from said wire when said deforming and said cutting members are not engaging said first and said second cam means.

3. A rotary press comprising a stationary frame having a circular recessed portion therein, first and second cam means peripherally disposed in said recessed portion, a plate rotatable within said recessed portion, at least one pair of deforming members oppositely positioned on said plate, at least one pair of cutting members oppositely positioned on said plate, and a wire feeding through than said second cam means, and said forming and said said plate, said first cam means being disposed in a plane closer to the place of feeding said wire through said plate cutting members intermittently engaging said first and said second cam means, respectively, and responsively simultaneously slidable towards said wire to selectively deform the cross section thereof and to cut sarne into preselected segments.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,137,920 5/15 Sleeper 78-21 1,737,262 ll/29 Morin 140-71 1,858,733 5/32 Flachbart 10-153 1,908,367 5/33 Kiwi 140-102 2,106,274 l/38 Frayer et al. l0-86 2,134,469 10/38 Bergevin 140-103 2,399,062 4/46 Schade 140*7l 2,753,001 7/56 Page 83-337 2,877,809 3/59 Zapf 140-102 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

NEDWIN BERGER, WILLIAM F. PURDY, RICH- ARD A. WAHL, Examiners. 

1. A ROTARY PRESS COMPRISING A STATIONARY FRAME HAVING A CIRCULAR RECESSED PORTION THEREIN, FIRST AND SECOND CAM MEANS PERIPHERALLY DISPOSED IN SAID RECESSED PORTION IN DIFFERENT PLANES, A PLATE ROTATABLE WITHIN SAID RECESSED PORTION, A PAIR OF DEFORMING MEMBERS OPPOSITELY POSITIONED ON SAID PLATE, A PAIR OF CUTTING MEMBERS OPPOSITELY POSITIONED ON SAID PLATE, AND A WIRE FEEDING THROUGH SAID PLATE, SAID DEFORMING AND SAID CUTTING MEMBERS INTERMITTENTLY ENGAGING SAID FIRST AND SAID SECOND CAM MEANS, RESPECTIVELY, AND RESPONSIVELY SAND SIMULTANEOUSLY SLIDABLE TOWARDS EACH OTHER AND SAID WIRE TO SELECTIVELY DEFORM THE CROSS SECTION THEREOF AND TO CUT SAME INTO PRESELECTED SEGMENTS. 